As I wrote in my previous post, I had had to somewhat modify my plans for that day, because I had not been able to do all of the distance I had originally wanted to do the day before, and thus could not today do the remainder of the Silver Comet Trail between Cedartown and Smyrna, but only part of that. I had chosen the 24 miles from Rockmart to Hiram, as these contain two of the highlights of the trail, the 700-foot Brushy Mountain Tunnel …

Let’s start with a few preliminary remarks about this trail: The Silver Comet Trail in Georgia between Smyrna and Esom Hill is 61.5 miles trail long, 12 feet wide and paved all the way, which makes it eminently suitable not only for mountain bikes, but for road bikes, too.

The Motta Handlebar: Not Enough Space for Either a Handlebar Bag or a (Video) Camera

The Motta: a Vintage Italian Beauty aka My Italian Girlfriend

… had been based on the knowledge that on the one hand we would have crushed stone on at least part of another trail and that the wide and knobby tires of the Salsa Fargo would be way better suited to this kind of terrain, and on the other hand on the fact that the Salsa Fargo with its wide handle bar would lend itself much better to mounting a handle bar bag for my “big” Nikon D500. On the Silver Comet Trail, btw, I didn’t take this handle bar bag, because I wanted to mount my video camera on the handle bar, and the big bag would have been, as I had found out the previous day on the Chief Ladiga Trail, too much in the way, blocking about one third of the view of the video camera. Thus, my pictures here in this post were not taken with my Nikon D500 but with my cell phone, which in turn presented a problem: quite frequently I could not see exactly what I was capturing, or, when I tried to shade my camera with my hand, I ended up just taking a picture of my fingers.

But now back again to the trail itself: The Silver Comet Trail follows the bed of the old Seaboard Air Line. From 1947 to 1969, the shiny Silver Comet passenger train provided luxury service between New York and Birmingham. The railroad corridor itself dates back as far as 1869, and was in use till 1989. Along the way are 17 wheelchair-accessible access points, 15 restrooms, as well as 10 water fountains. This perfectly maintained rail trail is a “multi-use trail”, which means it is suitable for and is used by hikers or runners/joggers, by inline skaters, and even by horseback riders. Its eastern section runs through residential areas, its western section is more bucolic, a mixed landscape of pine stands and farmland.

But now let’s look at some nicer pictures, as well as at a video [admittedly it is not the most exciting video, to say the least, but it does show how lovely this trail is] of my first 10 minutes bicycling the Silver Comet Trail.

… I seemed to hear, very faint because it came from relatively far away, someone shout my name. I stop, and – lo and behold – there is my darling, in quite a distance, on the other side of a wide 4-lane highway, calling my name, and waving! 🙂 What a coincidence: she had stopped there, just hoping to see me bicycling by, and it happened! Well, luckily I crossed that bridge more than once because I wanted to take a video of arriving at the Tara Drummond Trailhead, and Mary saw me when I was riding back to start my video.

Conclusion: it was a fantastic day once again, and I’d really love to go back some day and bicycle the Silver Comet Trail in its total distance. Who knows: maybe there will be the opportunity some day in the future.

I’m glad, Amy, that you enjoyed the videos. As I said: for some they might be boring, but I think they give a good idea what it was like riding the trail. Oh, and I’m glad, of course, that you like my bicycle. 🙂

That does seem unlikely, and yet it happened that way. There have been several times recently, in Austin and while traveling, that someone has asked me about the subject of a T-shirt I was wearing. You may still get asked.

Well, my pedal power there was kind of decreasing: fdirst day 33 miles, 2nd day 24, and – yet to be written about here – 3rd day of bicycling just 4.3 miles. That had different reasons, though, than my legs.
It sure was a very beautiful day out there on the Silver Comet Trail.

These really are beautiful trails. The trees look especially inviting. Thinking about it, I don’t remember seeing a bicylist around here for the past week — even the dog walkers aren’t lingering outdoors in this yeat.

I wondered about trails here in Texas, and discovered there are many more than I realized.The state parks provide this list. Since many are hike/bike trails, some might be worth exploring even for non-bicylist me.

Your post did remind me that bikes are available for rent at the Hogg Plantation historic site in West Columbia. The last time I was there, I noticed the sign: $5 for an hour, I think it was. That kind of arrangement’s perfect for people who just want to try it out before making a bigger commitment — or a huge commitment, like you and Mary!

Good evening, Linda,
I really loved both the Chief Ladiga and the Silver Comet Trail. They were perfect.
Here, I’m still seeing bicyclists pass the house. Mostly in the mornings, of course, when it’s not scorching hot yet.
Thanks for the link. Those trails are nearly all for mountain bikes, though – not the kind Mary and I prefer. Rail trails, the trails we like, are not very frequent in Texas. But then, we have the beautiful Hill Country with many small roads at our doorstep.
Bikes are available for rent in quite a few places. I think that’s really a good thing. But as you know, Mary and I like our own bicycles. That reminds me of the times I had my own sailing-boat: that was eqipped exactly the way I wanted it. The same with bicycles.
Have a wonderful weekend, and don’t melt away, 😉
Pit